FORGET TREATMENT, ARREST THE DRUGGIES

I moved to Red Deer from Edmonton about four years ago to distance myself
and my family from the escalating drug situation and the resulting crime. I
have to tell you, I have never seen a city get out of control so fast as
Red Deer has, when it comes to drug abuse and crimes committed by drug users.

If not for drugs, Red Deer would be a fantastic city.

Youth drug treatment clinics and methadone clinics are not the way to go.
Stop the problem at its roots; don't just deal with the aftermath.

These clinics advertise to drug users in Western Canada that Red Deer has
made the big leagues when it comes to drugs. Our RCMP force does a
fantastic job with the limited resources available to them, but they need
assistance badly. Let's help our law enforcement officers!

We need some drastic changes to the way we handle drug users and the
cowardly criminals who seem to think they can do whatever they wish in Red
Deer.

Here are a couple of suggestions that may infringe on human rights, but no
more so than our druggies and petty thieves do every day: * Criminal checks
should be mandatory for anyone renting, leasing, buying, operating a
business or seeking employment in Red Deer, and if drug and/or criminal
offences are found, they should not be eligible.

* Anyone caught with drugs, be it selling or using, or committing crimes to
support drug habits should be instructed to leave Red Deer within a 30-day
period, along with their families.

I realize these are very radical measures, but how many of your children
have to be knifed at bus stops? How many break-ins, armed robberies, and
other cowardly acts are we going to accept? Wake up people!

Do we want our families put in jeopardy by tiptoeing around these issues
and hiding behind locked doors at night, or do we want to meet the problems
head on?If we don't act now, we are just as cowardly as these criminals.

Hopefully the new mayor and city council we elect will be able to take a
firmer stance on these issues and maybe, just maybe, it is not too late to
save Red Deer.

Not that our present officials are doing a bad job at all - they aren't -
but this is an epidemic that might be escalating too fast for them, and
more drastic measures should perhaps be looked at.

Kelly Dornfield
Red Deer